HCA completes deal for former Lentz Health Center site

HCA has officially taken ownership of the former Lentz Public Health Center property from the city, providing the Nashville-based hospital chain a prime site for future development.

The transfer completes a land-swap agreement under which HCA spent $28.5 million to build the newly opened 106,000-square-foot Metro Public Health Department headquarters on 3.5 acres the hospital chain owned at 2500 Charlotte Ave. In exchange, HCA got the former Lentz Center site at 311 23rd Ave. N., paying Metro the appraised value of $6.13 million upon transfer.

Under the land-swap agreement, the hospital chain also will get a 10-year break on property taxes on the old Lentz Center site, including for any building that might be built there. That abatement would be 100 percent for the first five years and 50 percent for the next five years.

Karen Giorgio, a spokeswoman for HCA’s TriStar Health division that runs its Nashville-area hospitals, said HCA doesn’t have specific plans for that 2.07-acre tract. “We anticipate in the long term this land will be used for expansion of services at TriStar Centennial,” she said.

Last month, TriStar Centennial applied for a certificate of need to develop a joint-replacement center, remodel the hospital’s emergency department, and replace and add licensed beds. The number of acute care beds at the campus would increase from 657 to 686.

Total cost of the project is about $96 million, with completion expected in January 2016.

Reach Getahn Ward at 615-726-5968 and on Twitter @Getahn.

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